Method and apparatus for cooling of radiators of engines and the like



July 23', 1959 A. GUILLO-QUEVEDO METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COOLING .OFRADIATORS 0F ENGINES AND THE LIKE Filed March 21, 195'! United StatesPatent,

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COOLING OF RADIATORS OF ENGINES AND THE LIKEAlvaro Guillo-Quevedo, Guatemala City, Guatemala Application March 21,1957, Serial No. 647,689 14 Claims. (Cl. 123-41.49)

er which the Caterpillar D2 to D7 tractors may be taken as typical,employ an ordinary propeller type fan to draw cooling air through aconventional radiator through which the cooling water for the engine iscirculated. Even though the radiator is provided with a casing or shieldleading from the generally rectangular margins of the radiator andterminating in a circular opening embracing the fan to provide a suctionplenum for the fan, still in extremely dusty terrain, as in Guatemala,for example, it frequently occurs that in tWo hours of operation theefficiency of the radiator is so reduced by the collection of dustdeposits in the air passages through its core, that overheating of theengine results making it necessary to shut down operations while thedust is removed from the radiator as by blowing it out of the airpassages with a high pressure air hose.

Amongthe objects of the present invention, severally andinterdependently, are: the provision of a fan system so constructed andarranged as to obviate the aforesaid disadvantage of conventionalsystems; the provision of an improved mode of air circulation forradiator cooled internal combustion engines such as tractor engines andthe like; the provision of a novel type of fan combined in a uniquemanner with a casing, shield or housing associated with a radiator forimproving the utility thereof; and the provision of a double action fanof cheap, simple and novel construction. The mode in which the inventionachieves these and other objects and advantages of the invention will beapparent from the following description considered in connection withthe accompanying drawings of illustrative embodiments thereof.

The invention resides in the novel features, combinations, andsub-combinations hereinafter described that Fig. 3 is a sectional viewtaken at line 33 of Fig. 2

in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a partial view corresponding to Fig. 2 of another embodiment;and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view thereof taken at line of r .Fig. 4 in thedirection of the arrows.

2,896,595. Patented July 28, 1959 As shown in Fig. 1, the invention isadapted to improve the air circulation of the cooling system of a dieseltractor or the like of the type comprising an internal combustion engine10 provided with a coolant circuit including a radiator comprising acore 11, a head tank 11a and abase tank 11b with a water pump 12, andsuitable conduit means 13 and 14 connecting the tanks 11a and 11b withthe pump 12 and engine block of engine 10, in series. A part of thecoolant, herein represented by water, may be bypassed through an oilcooler as is conventional. i

The water pump 12 and the ventilating or radiator fan, whether of theconventional type (not shown) or of a type according to the presentinvention, are preferably driven from the engine 10, as by a V-be lt 13driven by a pulley 14 mounted on the crank shaft of the engine anddriving a pulley 15 mounted on the pump and fan shaft.

The fan conventionally employed in such installations (not shown)comprises a single set of propeller type blades similar to the blades 23hereinafter "described, and draws air through the radiator core 11 anddischarges it toward the engine 10 in a generally straight-through flowfrom left to right as viewed in Fig; 1. Suchconventional fan isgenerally provided with a casing or shield similar to the shield 20,Fig. 1, which conventional shield leads from the generally rectangularmargins. of the core section 11 and terminates in a circular dischargeopening that in the conventional installation is concentric with thesingle propeller type fan, which draws the air rearwardly throughout theentire area of such opening. As noted above, when such conventionalinstallations are employed in extremely dusty terrain, the suction ofthe fan, distributed over the entire air passage areaof the core 11, isnot able to prevent the accumulation of deposits of dust in the airpassages through the core, with the result that dust clogging andoverheating occurs so rapidly that it is frequently necessary to stopthe engine and remove the accumulated dust, as by blowing out the dustwith a high pressure air hose.

In contrast to such conventional system, however, the present inventionemploys a new method of circulating the ventilating air. As shown inFig. 1, in this method a current of air is drawn inwardly through only afirst part A of the radiator core, centrally thereof in the illustrativeembodiments, and at least a firstpart of said air current is then drivenin reverse flow backwardly through the remainder B of the radiator corepreferably at the marginal areas thereof, thereby greatly increasing thespeed of air flow per unit area of air passage space in the core, andproducing not only a rapid air flow through the marginal areas of thecore,but also a flow therethrough in the direction to blow dust cloudsaway from the front of the radiator at the areas B, which 'alsominimizes access of dust to the area A in the preferred embodiments ofthe invention in which the marginal areas B surround, and hence guard,the airingress area A.

In the illustrative embodiments herein, only a second portion of the airstream from the area A (which passes through the area A together withthe first portion and hence provides rapid air flow therethrough) ispassed rearwardly from the radiator and discharged into the enginespace, as will hereinafter more fully appear, and even this portion ofthe cooling air is preferably given a much greater radial component ofmotion before impinging on the engine than is the case when the air isdriven by the conventional single propeller type fan.

To provide for operation according to the just described new method, inthe embodiment of-Fig. 1, the conventional shield or fan casing 20becomes a part of a housing 20-21. As best shown in Figs. '2 and 3 theportion 21 of the housing, in the form shown, has a generally anfinchor-l'e'ss being preferred.

rangement-the fan '23' has a number of blades 23a equal "to thenumber ofblades 22a of fan 22. Since the blades "opening 21a therein, through theabove displaces the 'firs't portion of th'feair streamfrom'area A, "andwith the aid of the housing portions 2021 drives it in reverse flowthrough themarg'inal areas B of the radiapell'ertype blades-22iz havinga pitch opposite to that 'o'f the conventionarran, and thus disposed todrive air centrifugally andt'oward the portions B of the radiator "core11, most-of which air'can only be replaced, as a practical matter, byair drawn into the housing through '"thecore-a'r'ea A, 5 as will morefully appear hereinafter.

t ;-*A's will'fiirther be clear frornFigs. '1-3', in this embodimerit ;asecond fa' n means '23 is disposed adjacent the opening 21aexteriorly'of the housing 21 and pitched --'to drive air away from saidhousing as the two fan means "22, 23 are driven,-l1erein by theconventional belt and pulley drive 1315.

- Ap'articularly simple and inexpensive mode of associating-the two fanswith thehousing 2021 is exemplifie d'in Figs. 1 3, in which the portion21 of the housing,

"that has the generally circular opening 21a therein, is eifectively inthe fonntof an annulus. (as best shown in Fig. 2) that liesa'boutco-planar with the surrounding -'portion 20 of the'hous'ing (see Fig.3), and is closely "spaced thereto at 21b, aspacing of about an eighthof In the illustrated ar- 22a and 23a are'of opposite pitch, theirleading edges may be arranged c'o-radially, as in Figs. 2 and 3, and can.be'secured to opposite sides of the annulus 21 in any suitable manner,as bysimultaneous rivetting (shown) or welding thereto. A suitablemounting means of any desired form may be employed, provided it does notunduly restrict the air passage through the aperture means 21a. Intheforr'n of Figs. 2 and 3, merely as illustrative of a suitablemounting means, a hub 25 is shown, to which the blades 23a are suitablyattached, said blades 23a in turn supporting the annulus 21 and theblades 22a, the whole constituting a double acting fan.

- Inthis form, also, the root portions 231) of the blades '23a,'whichare of the propeller type and of conventional *pitch and serve as spokesfor supporting thefans and annulus 21 on the hub 25, are also twisted.With this arrangement the portion23b of the fan 23 pulls air directlythrough the opening 21a and assures that most er the air driven by thefan 23 is drawn through the area A, ,Fig- 1 and the opening 21a. Sincethe blades 23a, especially when backed up by. the annulus or housingportion 21, tend to throwair both rearwardly and outwardly 'and to drawit centrifugally outwardly because of the practical andsometimesdesirable to employ a hood over the engine :provided with sideclosures extending at least part way of the length of the engine, aswell as a top closure, to confine the impelled air about the engine.This enclosure, which further protects the engine from the weather, is'practical with the present invention, since the 'air that passesthrough the hottest area B, reduces the temperature, 'at the area A sothat the second portion .-.of' the'divided air stream therefrom is notas warm as it would otherwise be.

In the modification of Figs. 4-5, the parts corresponding to. those ofFigs. 1-3 bear the same minerals, in-

creased by 100. .In this 'form the efiectively annular housing portion121 itself carries the spokes 123b and tor -core 11. "As is best shownin Fig. 3, in the illustrated form the centrifugal fan means 22comprises proun... a... hub plate 125, having bolt holes a therein bywhich the fan assambly may-be bolted to the hub of'the drive pulley 15(Fig. 1). Also in this embodiment the blades 123a are duplicates of theblades 122a, but attached with opposite pitch, and the centrifugalaction of the blades 123a is relied upon to cause rarification outsidethe aperture means 121a so that the air flow through the area A will beaugmented.

While relative proportionsof the parts are nothighly critical, for atractor, say-of the CaterpillarD4 size that normally has a fan diameterof approximately 22 inches, fans 22 and 23 of similar outside diametermaybe emdp ran a s t re 1a. o abml nert r the diameter of annulus 21,say approximately seven inches in diameter; the blading of the fansbeing preferably substantially coextensive with the radial depth of theannulus i.e. 7 /2 inches long, when the fan is formed as in Figs. 4 and5 Theblades in such case may be pitched to extend approximately twoinchesrrom the plate 21 'or 121 attlieir trailing edges. Wi'th "suchproportions tractors of the kind designated have been operated amijr'nber of days withoutshutdown' for radiator dust me -6m underthesameterr'ain and weather conditions thatfr'equired dust blow-out attwo hour intervals with the'conventional fan installations. D

7 While the invention is especially adapted for the type of servicediscussed above, it Willbe appreciated that'it may usefully be employedwith any installation including a radiator like element requiring aircirculation therethrough, or "with such an installation that furtherincludes an engine or equivalent element requiring a second circulationof cooling air. I I

While there have been described herein whatare *at present consideredpreferred embodiments of the invention, it will be obvious to thoseskilled in the art that many modifications and changes may be madetherein without departing from the essence of the invention. :It isthereforeto be understood that the exemplary embodiments areillustrative and not restrictive ofthe invention, the scope of which isdefined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for cooling the radiator of an internal combustion engineor the like, com ru'ising.ahousing adjacent said radiator, the interiorof said housinglbeing in communication with air passing through saidradiator, said housing having an'outlet opening therein, fan-means andmeans for driving the same for drawing airtinto said housing throughcentral portions. of said radiator, said fan meansco'mprising meansfor'bl'owing a part of said air outwardly from said housing throughmarginal POP 'tions of said radiator and means forsimultaneously'propelling a part of said air outwardly throughsaid'housing opening and away from said housing, said "means for blowingair through marginal portionsof said. radiator comprising propellertypeblades'disposed laterally of said opening for driving centrifugallyand toward saidm'arg'inal portions of said radiator air drawn throughthe portion of said radiator opposite said opening.

2. Apparatus. according to claim 1, said means-for propelling airthrough said, housing opening comprising propeller type blades at leastin part overlying said open- 3. Apparatus. for ,coolingtheradiator of.an-internal combustion engine or the like, comprisingfahons-ingadja'centflsaid radiator, theinterior of said housing being incommunication with air passing through said radiator, said housinghaving an outlet opening therein, fan rjneans and means for driving thesame for drawing air into said housing through central portions of saidradiator, said fan means comprising means for blowing a part of said airoutwardly from said housing through marginalportions of said radiatorand means for simultaneously propelling apart of said air outwardlythrough said housing opening and away from said housing, the portion ofthe housing having a generally circular opening therein beingsubstantially in the form of a flat annular plate lying in substantiallythe same plane as the immediately surrounding portion of the housing andclosely spaced thereto, said annular plate being attached to at leastone of said fan means and rotating therewith.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3, said annular plate being attached toboth of said fan means and forming a single unit therewith.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4, said fan means comprising propellerblades of opposite pitch, respectively, with their leading edgesdisposed against opposite faces of said annular plate and securedthereto 6. A double action fan means of the class described, comprisingmeans defining an axis of rotation of the fan, and spaced along saidaxis a first set of propeller type blades, a flat plate having an airpassage centrally thereof, and a second set of propeller type blades,said first set of blades being located radially outwardly of said airpassage at a first side of said plate, said second set of blades beinglocated at the opposite side of said plate to draw air through said airpassage from said first side of said plate, said two sets of bladesbeing of opposite pitch for driving air at both sides of said plateradially outwardly and away from said plate while causing air to flowthrough said plate.

7. A double action fan means according to claim 6, said apertured platebeing effectively annular and being attached to at least one of saidsets of blades.

8. A double action fan means according to claim 7, said annular platebeing attached to both said sets of blades and forming a single unittherewith.

9. A double action fan means according to claim 6, said sets of bladeshaving their leading edges co-radial.

10. A double action fan means comprising two sets of propeller typeblades of opposite pitch, and a centrally apertured plate arrangedbetween said two sets of blades, and providing air passage meanscentrally of the fan, said sets of blades having their leading edgesco-radial, said apertured plate being effectively annular and beingjoined to both said sets of blades at the co-radial leading edgesthereof.

11. A cooling system for an installation comprising a heat generatingengine or the like, a radiator through which cooling air is drawn, and afan means associated with said radiator; said system being particularlycharac- 6 terized in that said fan means comprises two sets of fanblades of opposite pitch and an elfectively annular plate arrangedbetween said two sets of fan blades, a casing extending from the marginsof said radiator and terminating in a circular opening substantially atthe edge of said annular plate, and means for rotating said fan means.

12. An improved method of cooling an installation comprising a heatgenerating engine or the like and adjacent thereto a radiator throughwhich cooling air is drawn, which method comprises drawing the coolingair toward said engine through a first part of said radiator, dividingthe cooling air drawn through said first part into two portions, passingonly the second portion of said cooling air about the engine, andsimultaneously passing the first portion of the cooling air in reversedflow away from said engine through the remainder of the radiator.

13. A method according to claim 12, characterized in that the coolingair is drawn toward said engine through the central part of the radiatorand in that the first portion thereof is displaced radially from thesecond portion thereof and passed back through the radiator away fromsaid engine through the portions of the radiator surrounding saidcentral portion;

14. An improved method of cooling a radiator of the type describedparticularly adapted to prevent clogging of the radiator when operatingin a dusty ambient cooling atmosphere, which comprises drawing a currentof cooling air inwardly from the ambient atmosphere through the centralportion of the radiator core in one direction, and simultaneouslyforcing at least a part of said current of air outwardly into theambient atmosphere through the marginal portions of said radiator corein the opposite direction for blowing dust away from the regionimmediately surrounding said central portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 17,664Brough June 30, 1857 2,654,354 Sanders Oct. 6, 1953 2,703,075 SandersMar. l, l955 2,790,596 Stirling Apr. 30, 157

FOREIGN PATENTSl 436,065 France Jan. 13, 1912

